Vocaldente - Let's misbehave
March 1st, 2009 - Romantik Hotel Haus Elmer, Marienthal (G)
Spoiler warning: Don't read this report if you don't want to know details from the concert, such as jokes that were told during the show. I wrote down everything I remember.
Today we'll drive to Germany, to see and hear Vocaldente! I'm so excited about it! Martin and I "discovered" this group in October last year, during a festival in Germany (read about it here: Stimmflut report). Vocaldente's perfectionism amazed us and we knew right away that we wanted to see them again. Today we're bringing some friends as well, because our enthusiastic stories made them curious. The concert starts at 17.00h, which is perfect, because now we won't be back home too late and everybody is happy. That's how seven Dutchies find their way to the middle of nowhere, a tiny village called Marienthal in Germany. (But it's not that far for us, we live pretty close to the German border.) There are some shops in Marienthal and they're all opened on this Sunday. There are many cars and many people in the street. Are they here because of the shops or are they all coming to hear Vocaldente? Although the concert is sold out, most people here have probably never even heard of the group. There are only about 150 chairs in the room where Vocaldente is performing, so most people are here to go shopping. We take a look at the shops and within ten minutes I've seen most of it and I still can't figure out why there are so many people in this village on a quite common Sunday afternoon.
The hotel where the concert takes place is worth mentioning first. We arrive early, because we have to get our tickets one hour before the concert starts, and within five minutes I've lost five of my companions and we all seem to be lost in the hotel. There are many, many rooms with tables and chairs, connected to each other with small corridors. We can't find an empty chair, but I find one of my friends and then one of the waiters kindly brings us to another (!) room which we hadn't seen yet, and we sit down. I discover Martin and the three others in the next room. This place must be a paradise for kids playing hide and seek! Every now and then I see one of the Vocaldente singers walking around. I hope none of the five singers will get lost, it would be terrible if the concert can't take place because one of them is hopelessly lost in one of the corridors or rooms. Ah, well, I'm sure they'll be fine.
There's no hurry to get back to the concert room, because we had to put sticky notes with our names on the chairs we wanted to take. And so we don't have to wait for an hour in the concert room, but we can have a drink in one of the dozen other rooms. Or do the employees just want to give us the opportunity to play hide and seek before enjoying some music? We drink a cup of tea and five minutes before the concert starts, we find our seats in the third row and we sit down. Let the show begin!
A man is introducing Vocaldente, the audience applaudes and the five enter the room and mount the stage. The stage... is very small and if they would jump, they could probably touch the ceiling. The stage is about 50 cm high and lit by some lights from both sides. It all looks very primitive, but I just love the private atmosphere it creates. No microphones, just five men with golden voices - who needs more? They start with the song A Thousand Miles, which is also the first song on their album. I lean back, relax and enjoy. Wow!
Johnny welcomes us. It's their first performance in Marienthal, he says, so we don't know each other yet. He tells us they're from Hannover, which is the metropolis in the northern part of Germany, if you don't count Hamburg... and Hannover has got something to offer the world, such as... nice suits. And of course: Vocaldente! Today they will sing a lot of songs from the album Let's misbehave and they will now sing the song with the identical name. This is my favorite song of the album, it's an absolutely brilliant arrangement (by the way arranged by Oliver Gies, from Maybebop - also an outstanding a cappella group from Germany, also from Hannover, what a coincidence) and I could hear this song over and over again.
It's Tobeks turn to introduce the individual members of the group to us. And, because we're in such private housing, we're supposed to greet them by saying hallo and add the name of the singer, after Tobeks introduction. He starts with introducing the bass, which is Tobi and on Tobeks sign, we all say "Hallo Tobi" to him and many people have to laugh. Tobek is a bit displeased because we didn't say it all together as one voice, but luckily we have four more chances to get it right. We say hallo to Johnny, Micha, Ansgar and finally to Tobek himself and it sounds better, but it's not perfect yet. Could have been the shortcoming skills of a Vocaldente singer as conductor as well... no no no just kidding ;)
Vocaldente is aiming at the international market and therefore sing many songs in English. It's a shame that most people in other countries don't speak German, according to Tobek. (Quote: "Frechheit!") In English, there's the difficult "th"-sound and we all have to practice this sound by saying the word "faith" several times. German people tend to pronounce it as "ss". Faith is the next song. Every time Vocaldente uses vocal percussion I'm amazed. How does Johnny do this without a microphone? And at the same time maintain the volume balance in the group? It's perfect. After this song, Tobi tells us about an occasion where Tobek was held by the police because of a drug search. Of course, Vocaldente doesn't do drugs, they rather use other, more natural ways to make their minds straying... Wenn der weiße Flieder wieder blüht (Wenn the white Lilac Tree blooms again) shows us five men with an allergy. This is a song which will never work on a cd. It'd be very boring. The looks on their faces and the way they interpret the song is hilarious. The audience laughs out loud when Johnny is picking his nose and carefully wipes off his fingers on Michas jacket. It's so funny. Next, I can't recall Tobi's story about the Bee Gees, because I'm still chuckling, but Emotions is beautiful and my big smile slowly fades into a happy, very contented smile and I enjoy their beautiful voices. Without interference they continue with Perfect, which is a song that suits Vocaldente very well, because everything seems perfect about these guys. Their songs are perfectionated and every detail of their choreography is well thought out.
Micha tells us about his life with Vocaldente. Touring is not as much fun as most people think it is. They spend a lot of time together in the car, which causes annoyance and weariness. Because of that, they never spend their holidays together. During a holiday you want peace and intended boredom and with Vocaldente you will never have that. But, just for fun, they wrote a song about what would happen if they would spend a holiday together. The Sommersong (Summer song) is intended to be funny and many people laugh because of some funny phrases in the song and of course the choreography. Personally, it's one of the songs I like a little less, maybe because it's too much a play. Next, Micha tells us we can enter our email addresses on their laptop during the coming break if we want to receive their newsletter, the E-Voc. I don't remember how, but somehow Micha moves from newsletter to wikipedia.org, and then he tells us about his brothers who showed him the website jedipedia.com and there even is a stupidedia.org with all kinds of nonsense and stupid questions. And that leads to the next song, which is also about a very stupid question. The song doesn't give answers, but we can discuss it during the break. Does your chewing gum loose its flavor (on the bedpost over night) is the most stupid song I've ever heard, but it's fantastic and I hope it'll be on the new album (called Gold'n'Delicious) which will be coming out in April. By the way, you can find another version of this song on YouTube.
The second part of the show starts with the song Konsument (Consumer). It's a funny song about spending money and during the song Tobek refers to their CD. They actually should have sung this song before the break, don't they? Then, Tobek tells us about a night out with a girl, during which he didn't get the chance to enjoy his dinner, because the girl kept asking him questions that he had to answer. During that night, he had to think of the song When you say nothing at all. It's a beautiful song, the only annoying thing is a telephone ringing during the song. I believe it's the hotel phone... omg... really disturbing. I believe I can see a tiny distraction on stage, but then it's like nothing has happened. After the song, Johnny tells us about being in a boygroup which doesn't really look like a boygroup. When he says this, he inconspicuously points to Ansgar, who is the oldest member of the group. Everybody laughs. And the concert today in Marienthal... it's just not New York... the stage is small, there's no fog machine and there are no screaming girls at all! They thought, maybe they should add a song in their repertoire, which would make them look more like a boyband, and maybe they should dance to it. One look at Ansgar makes clear he totally disagrees. Johnny carefully explains it took the dance coach a long time to learn them the next choreography (two days, eh... weeks, ehm, two months, no, we're working two years on this song now!!). With a big sigh, Ansgar seems to resign himself to the fact that he has to dance, but during the medley I got five on it he causes the audience to laugh time after time because of his stiff and clumsy movements. The HAZ (German Newspaper) once said: "If it has to be a boyband, then it had better be like this one" and I agree.
After this bit of fun, according to Johnny, it is time for some more profoundness. A love song from a poet from Austria. But at this point in the show, I don't believe in seriousness anymore. Das Mädchen mit den drei blauen Augen (The girl with three blue eyes) is transformed into a parody of folk music and again the audience has to laugh often. It's a funny, but weird song. Then it's Michas turn again to tell us a story. I guess Micha is the youngest member of the group and according to the information on the Vocaldente website, this man lights up in the dark. I wouldn't be amazed if he really does. Not only his mouth, but his whole face is smiling. He's a very bright, sparkling person to see. His next story is however a bit far-fetched, but I don't care. He's funny. Micha mentions the touring again and how boring driving in the car can be. During one of their trips, he started thinking about German comparatives. It's hard to explain this in an English report, but he manages to start with "bleich-bleicher", and through "nass-nasser" and "was-wasser" he eventually ends up with "wander-wanderer". And so they sing The Wanderer. The stage is almost too small for their choreography and many people are laughing when Ansgar, Tobek, Micha and Johnny perform a funny dance while Tobi is doing his trumpet solo.
Tobi introduces the next song to us, without mentioning the song title and artist. He only reveals the fact, that it is a song from a Swedish popgroup and their name consists of only two characters, both appearing twice, so that everybody in the audience knows it'll be an ABBA song. I normally don't really like ABBA songs, but Mama Mia is in this arrangement and with this presentation an exception. The presentation has got nothing to do with the content of the song. The backing vocals with matching expressions on the faces of Tobek and Ansgar are fantastic to see and hear. Then there's a very special moment in the show, says Johnny, because it only happens once. It's a sad moment as well - it's the final song of the show. It's a moving moment, and therefore they will perform a song with some more dancing. A bewildered Ansgar gives a big sigh and the audience burst into laughter. They want to sing us a hymn and after short consultation they decide today they'll sing a hymn from Cuba, in Spanish, arranged and performed in Germany. The stage is too small again when they sing Juegalo, When Ansgar and Micha take off their jackets and swing them around, it's impossible not to hit the curtains and the wall. But they bravely swing them around, as if there is no wall and as if there are no curtains.
After a big applause and a choreographed bow, Vocaldente leaves the concert room. Micha is the first one returning on the stage, and after he indicates us to be quiet, he starts singing Thank God I'm a country boy. One by one, the other four members of the group join him, one by one adding another voice to the song. It's a nice up tempo song to end the concert with. Tobek thanks us for our persistant applause and he tells us about Vocaldentes fifth birthday this year and the special concert they're organizing for friends and family. And, as we got to know each other pretty well today, we're all invited. The final song they sing is A little respect, during which Tobi expresses his displeasure about the world getting tougher and he asks us to take a look in each others eyes and say "I like you" all together. And so the five singers conclude the concert. Afterwards they're in the small hall to sign Vocaldente CD's and Vocaldente postcards and there is time for a small chat. The first concert today has finished. They'll have a break for an hour and then perform again. If I'd known that...
The other people I brought today are enthusiastic as well, but the intensity of enthusiasm varies. Some say the humor in Vocaldentes performance is brilliant, others think it's funny but it's the same kind of joke repeated time after time. I can understand that, but personally I love this kind of humor, no matter how often I see and hear it. There's no discussion about vocal qualities. We all agree that this group is really great. One friend regrets that Ansgar is only singing with his falsetto voice. I also would like to hear him sing with his modal voice sometimes. Some say there was too much talking, but the talking didn't bother me at all. I also loved the private atmosphere during the concert, which also made it possible to sing without microphones. Conclusion: I definitely want to see Vocaldente again!